Cano estimates that production, between three and 18 years, will reach 1.2 million ounces of gold annually, "which will make the company one of the most profitable in the world" and added that 55 percent will be used for social investment in the country.

The Venezuelan Government plans to achieve an annual production in the Mining Arc of 1.2 million ounces of gold for the next three to 18 years.

The Minister for Ecological Mining Development, Víctor Cano, informed that the Canadian company Gold Reserve, in its Preliminary Economic Evaluation, certified Venezuela as having the fourth largest gold mine in the world.

The resources certified in a small area of 6 kilometers within the Orinoco Mining Arc, in the state of Bolívar (southeast), through the Empresa Mixta Ecosocialista Siembra Minera (Ecosocialist Mixed Enterprise Siembra Minera), "amount to one million 480 thousand kilos, that is, more than 52 million troy ounces of gold ", the official explained in his Twitter account.

Siembra Minera, created in February 2016, is one of the three mixed companies built in the Mining Arc, after the Government signed a memorandum of understanding, together with another 150 companies from 35 countries.

Cano estimates that production, between three and 18 years, will reach 1.2 million ounces of gold annually, "which will make the company one of the most profitable in the world" and added that 55 percent will be used for social investment in the country.

In addition, the minister indicated that the joint venture has some 1,480 tons of gold and 2.5 million tons of copper, which reaffirms the economic value of the Mining Arc.

The Venezuelan government will implement a sanitation plan with production to protect the environment and ensure ecological balance, "the recovery of spoiled soils and bodies of water affected after years of capitalist mining."

Venezuela, a country of mineral reserves

The Minister for Communication and Information, Jorge Rodríguez, reiterated on Tuesday that the Orinoco Mining Arc has more than eight thousand tons of gold, without adding other minerals.

On copper, Rodriguez said they have reserves worth about 119 billion euros. "Venezuela today becomes one of the largest gold, copper, coltan reserves in the world."

The official said that the certified mine will produce double what has been achieved so far, and the economic activity will begin once the Government and the Canadian company consolidate the agreements to move forward.